Zorro's Black Whip
16 November 1944| runtime =12 chapters (211 min)| country = | language =English| budget = $134,899 (negative cost:$145,251)Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement; Mathis, Jack, 1995, ISBN 0-9632878-1-8| amg_id = 1:65415| imdb_id =0037481| }} Zorro's Black Whip was a 1944 Republic Pictures film serial starring Linda Stirling. The film was made after the popular 1940 20th Century-Fox remake of The Mark of Zorro and Republic was unable to use the character himself, but still wanted to capitalize on it. However, and despite the title, Zorro does not feature in this serial. The hero(ine) is actually called The Black Whip throughout. The serial is set in pre-statehood Idaho, and a fight to prevent and ensure statehood by the villains and heroes respectively. Parts of this serial were reused as stock footage to pad out later serials such as Don Daredevil Rides Again (1951) and Man with the Steel Whip (1954) - despite the fact that both of those serials had male leads. Plot In Zorro's Black Whip the word Zorro never occurs, but a female who behaves like Don Diego in Idaho fights a cabal of corrupt politicians as "The Black Whip" after her brother (the original Black Whip) is killed. Hammond, owner of the town's stagecoach line and a leading citizen, is opposed to Idaho becoming a state, and kills Randolph Meredith, owner of the town's newspaper, for endorsing it. Meredith's sister Barbara, expert with a bullwhip and pistol, dons Randolph's black costume and mask and becomes "The Black Whip", dealing a blow to Hammond and his gang each time they perform some heinous act in their efforts to keep the town, and their power over it, unchanged. Aided by US government agent Vic Gordon, Barbara confronts Hammond in a final showdown just as the town votes on whether or not to accept statehood. Linda Stirling as The Black Whip is quite obviously female but, even after a bout of wrestling, the villains do not realise they aren't fighting a man. Some reference is made to this in the script, however, when the villains are trying to determine who the Black Whip's secret identity could be: The day is saved when Vic Gordon discovers Barbara's secret and removes her from suspicion by appearing in her costume. From this point on he, despite relinquishing the costume, tends to assume the hero role while Barbara becomes slightly more of a traditional damsel in distress. Cast * Linda Stirling as Barbara Meredith, The Black Whip and newspaper proprietrix * George J. Lewis as Vic Gordon, a US government agent allied with the Black Whip. In a related role, Lewis later portrayed Zorro's father in the Walt Disney television series Zorro * Lucien Littlefield as "Tenpoint" Jackson, the comic relief newspaper typesetter working with Barbara Meredith * Francis McDonald as Dan Hammond, villainous owner of the town's Stagecoach company * Hal Taliaferro as Baxter, one of Hammond's henchmen * John Merton as Ed Harris, one of Hammond's henchmen The surnames of the two lead characters, Meredith and Gordon, are an in-joke. They are the surnames of both versions of Nyoka the Jungle Girl in the, otherwise unconnected, Republic serials Jungle Girl and Perils of Nyoka. Chapter titles #The Masked Avenger #Tomb of Terror #Mob Murder #Detour to Death #Take Off That Mask! #Fatal Gold #Wolf Pack #The Invisible Victim #Avalanche #Fangs of Doom #Flaming Juggernaut #Trail of Tyranny This was one of two 12-chapter serials released in 1944, along with Linda Stirling's serial debute, The Tiger Woman. It had been Republic's standard pattern to produce two 12-chapter serials and two 15-chapter serials each year since 1938 but 1944 was the last year that occurred. In fact, Republic would only produce two more 15-chapter serials, Manhunt of Mystery Island and The Purple Monster Strikes, both in 1945 and both starring Linda Stirling. Stunts & Effects Stunts *Babe DeFreest as The Black Whip (doubling Linda Stirling) *Dale Van Sickel as Vic Gordon/Rock Heavy Karl/Camp Heavy/Danley (doubling George J. Lewis) *Tom Steele as Baxter/Ed (doubling Hal Taliaferro) *Helen Thurston Special Effects Special Effects by Republic's in-house team of the Lydecker brothers. Production Filming on Zorro's Black Whip took place between 29 July and 26 August 1944 under the working title The Black Whip. the production budget was $134,899 but the negative cost rose to $145,251 ($10,352, or 7.7%, over budget compared to $8,199.55, or 5.7%, over all Republic serials). This was the cheapest serial Republic released in 1944. Republic's overall spending on serials in 1944, $782,204, was actually the second largest in its history. Only 1949, $815,683, would exceed it, although that was split over five productions rather than 1944's four. The sixth chapter of the serial was released to film exchanges on 16 November 1944 (now recorded as the official release date). See also *List of film serials by year *List of film serials by studio References External links * * Zorro's Black Whip at Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience * Stomp Tokyo review of Zorro's Black Whip Download or view online * Episodes 2-12 free online Category:1944 films Category:Film serials Category:Swashbuckler films Category:Black and white films Category:Western films Category:American films Category:English-language films Category:Public domain films Category:Republic Pictures film serials Category:Zorro films Category:Sequel films Category:Superhero films Category:Films directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet nl:Zorro's Black Whip